By Michael Timmes National Systems Contractors Association The COVID-19 pandemic should have you reexamining your HR policies about remote work, sick time, benefits, and more. As integration companies battle through a COVID-19-depleted market, there is much uncertainty about what the future of the integration industry holds. One feeling, however, has been consistent throughout NSCA’s countless […]

By Tom LeBlanc National Systems Contractors Association Integration firms looking beyond the COVID-19 crisis need to strategize for a corporate client base with re-prioritized technology demands. As integration companies battle through a COVID-19-depleted market, there is much uncertainty about what the future of the integration industry holds. One feeling, however, has been consistent throughout NSCA’s […]

Built for AV system integrators, XTEN-AV today announced the launch of its cloud-based platform to transform how AV system integrators design and execute their projects. The platform follows AVIXA’s published standards and guidelines to enable users to design for different spaces more accurately and efficiently. XTEN-AV offers an extensive library of audio-visual brands and products […]

When I first joined the ranks of Milestone one of my coworkers told me that “Every integrator wants to work for a manufacturer when they grow up.” It was funny, and at the time I identified with that statement on some level.  Working for a manufacturer offered a few advantages for sure.  From a sales perspective, […]

STRATACACHE has announced the acquisition of Sys-Teams, a UK-based integration company. With this acquisition, led by STRATACACHE Capital Managing Partner Dirk Huelsermann, STRATACACHE is positioning itself as a global solution and service delivery company, adding the 35-person Sys-Team team of technicians, engineers and installers to the current 750 employees STRATACACHE already has. Sys-Teams has focused […]

If you haven’t already been following the conversation about selling AV software and services, I encourage you to catch up on my last couple blogs where I lay out the three main issues that I believe are stalling the transition from hardware-based businesses, as well as some specifics on business models that may play a […]

In sales, your best client is likely the one who buys repeatedly and recommends you consistently. For a long time, I had two of my best clients fit this description while I was in sales; one was a large airline, the other was a large church. What these two organizations had in common was a […]

CEDIA CEO Vin Bruno recently told a group of residential integrators that his organization wants to help the AV integration community transition away from using the term “integrator” and move towards using the term “technologist.” While I applaud CEDIA for proactively moving towards helping the integration community as a whole — something they clearly haven’t […]

Well, as happens many other times, I drew inspiration for this post from a fellow “Blog Squadder”, Lee Distad.  (That’s “Blog SquaDDer” as in Blog Squad Member as opposed to “Blog SquaTTer”, which is someone who reserves a bunch of WordPress addresses that may be popular and sits on them). Lee wrote about sales pitches, […]